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LOS ANGELES — A toxic plume of chromium has spread to multiple groundwater wells near the California desert town made famous by the movie "Erin Brockovich."

In a letter sent Monday to Pacific Gas & Electric, which had discharged the chromium decades ago, water regulators said wells near Hinkley are showing increased concentrations of the cancer-causing substance despite efforts to contain it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman withdrew a total of $1,200 from an ATM at a supermarket near his New York City apartment the night before he was found lifeless in his bathroom with a syringe still in his left arm, sources told NBC News.